Cop jailed 2 years for abusing position to get sexual favours
Investigation officer with commercial crimes squad also copied personal photos and videos from victims
He was an investigation officer with the police's commercial crimes squad but abused his position to corruptly procure sexual favours from two women who were under probe.
Staff Sergeant Mahendran Selvarajoo also copied personal photos and videos, some of which were sexually explicit, from the two victims and a third woman onto his own storage devices without authority.
Mahendran, 32, was yesterday jailed for two years after he was convicted of two counts of corruption and two Computer Misuse Act charges.
Mahendran, who has been suspended since May 15 last year, now faces disciplinary proceedings, a police spokesman said.
He was attached to Clementi Police Division and first joined the police force in 2010.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Charis Low said the case involved an egregious abuse of authority and breach of trust.
She sought 30 months' jail, and told District Judge Chay Yuen Fatt that Mahendran's acts were calculated to leverage the women's fear and anxiety.
He had taken the statement of one woman in 2017 for a case of shop theft, for which she got a warning in lieu of prosecution.
In a ploy to meet with her, he later claimed her employer had asked the police about the case.
CARPARK
Worried about her job, she met him in February last year and performed sex acts on him in a carpark in Ang Mo Kio as she wanted his help to give a favourable reply.
On April 30 last year, he had sex with another woman in a Serangoon Central carpark.
The woman was the subject of a probe into alleged credit card fraud and believed he could help her avoid prosecution.
Though the case had been transferred to another division, Mahendran gave a statement to her to sign that was amended to be favourable to her.
He had also "seized" her laptop after he found nude photos in it to show her he had power to help her, DPP Low said.
Manhendran similarly accessed the third woman's phone to copy out her private videos without permission.
He had earlier taken her statement in relation to another case involving credit card use.
A police report was made against him on April 30 and the case was referred to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) on May 1. Mahendran was arrested that day.
Police earlier said that after Mahendran was nabbed, they looked into a case he was handling and found that the integrity of the findings were not compromised. Police did not specify which case it was.
In a statement yesterday, CPIB said Mahendran initially denied any corrupt intent.
But the use of digital forensics and credibility assessment tools helped to uncover his offences.
For each count of corruption, Mahendran could have been jailed for up to five years and fined up to $100,000.
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